Too Little, Too Late
by Matt-Canada's-2p
Summary: Jimmy Valmer never knew what it was like to have his heart shattered till he met Leslie Meyers, when learned that he was just a pawn in the government's plans to take down Freedom Pals. Love hurts and is a questionable emotion, why would you still love someone, even after they hurt you?
1. Prologue

_If I could go back would things have turned out differently? Would I have reacted differently knowing what I know now? Would we be in this predicament now? Would it have even mattered?_

A brunet sighed in the brightly lit room. His tired brown eyes looked over at the brightly lit computer screen, technobabble and binary code lined the screen, he had no idea what any of it said, Tupperware would know, but he and the rest of the Freedom Pals went out without him. His eyes traveled to the cords the computer was hooked to, to the person in the bed he sat beside.

A young woman who looked to be in her early twenties laid on the infirmary bed, her eyes closed and the cords seemingly attached to the back of her neck, her long black hair was neatly pulled to the side, as to not tangle with the cords. His hand remained rested on top of her unmoving one, "S-some hero I-I t-turned out to be..." He rubbed his thumb over her cold hand, "I'm sorry L-Leslie..."

End of the first chapter, they get longer I swear, but this will be a short fic, but I hope you enjoy it!


	2. First Meetings

Jimmy Valmer was one of the many people at the crowed scene of the crime, as a hostage situation at the downtown bank was recently handled nearly an hour ago by the famous, to some the infamous, Freedom Pals. Cops stood in front of the building, keeping people from going any further than they already have, but that didn't stop the many onslaughts of questions produced by the many journalists on the scene. Jimmy lagged near the back as he listened to the police through the overlapping voices, only to roll his eyes when he heard them start to take credit for the takedown of the criminals, typical. The heroes and police had what some would call a love-hate relationship, as the heroes tended to get the rough end of the stick while the cops didn't have to get their hands dirty and often enough take credit for their actions, well the positive ones anyway, however, many people already figured that most of the big crimes that get stomped out were done so by the hero group so at least they got some gratitude for helping.

The brunet finished writing some notes in his little book and was about to wrap up shop when he heard someone behind him, "Excuse me? Would you happen to be Jimmy Valmer?"

Stopping what he was doing, Jimmy turned around and came face to face with a young woman around his age, she had long silky black hair with bangs that covered her eyes and pale skin, as she wore a bright yellow sweater and black jeans, her face devoid of any emotion. "Yeah, Th-that's me. H-how can I be of your s-service?"

She brushed her bangs away from her eyes with her fingers, revealing their color as she explained, "My name is Leslie Meyers and I go to the university here for Journalism. I was wondering if you would be willing to give me tips or advice."

Jimmy remained speechless for a moment, her eyes were a deep vibrant blue and they were near breathtaking, but quickly he replied, "Y-yeah, sure, but why m-me? I know that o-ot-others here are better than me."

"I find your work to be more engaging and truthful than all these news tabloids that flood the streets and online. You get to the facts, and I prefer that over any of these big-name biased writers."

Jimmy felt his face heat up a bit, no one had ever really commented on his work like that, "Th-thanks. Though I'm a bit b-busy at the moment, are you f-free Saturday at nine?"

Leslie gave a curt nod and said, "Yes."

"G-great," Jimmy tore a sheet of paper from his book and scribbled some numbers on it before giving it to the woman, "H-here, call if anything p-p-po-pops up."

She took the paper from the brunet, "Thank you, could we meet at the coffee shop on Meylin Street?"

"Sure, so s-see you Saturday then Leslie."

The woman nodded before turning on her heels and walking off, Jimmy had a hint of a smile on his face before he readjusted his crutches and walked away from the fading crowd.

Thoughts?


	3. Date?

****Another Chapter up****

Jimmy heard the bell of the door ring as he entered the small coffee shop, the smell of the bitter liquid hit him as his dark mocha brown eyes scanned the room and landed on a familiar raven-haired woman, causing a smile to tug at his lips. He walked over to the table, grabbing her attention when he stood next to the table, "H-hey Leslie."

"Hello Jimmy, shall we get started?"

Jimmy glanced at the table and noticed that she didn't seemed to have ordered anything. "D-didn't you get a drink?"

She tilted her head, "No."

Jimmy blinked but gave her a small smile, "H-how about I get you something? What w-would you like?"

"I am alright."

"Please, I insist."

She blinked up at him before saying, "An iced coffee then."

"A-alright, be b-back in a sec."

He walked over to the counter, ordered, paid, and went back over to the table, taking a seat across from Leslie, setting his crutches aside. "They said that th-they'll bring them over when they're r-ready. So wh-what kinds of questions did you w-want to ask?"

He noticed that Leslie had a notepad and pen as she began to ask questions, mostly on credibility, facts, just easy questions he answered with no problems. Soon enough their drinks were delivered, but mot long after, Leslie said that she had enough information and closed her notebook and took a drink from her iced coffee, "Since that has been taken care of, the day is young. Why don't we get to know each other a bit better?"

Jimmy blinked at the raven-haired woman, was she trying to flirt? It was hard to tell with her emotionless tone and major lack of facial expressions, but it made him crack a smile, "S-sure, I don't have anything p-planned today, so what did you have in m-mind?"

"Park? There is one down the street."

"Sounds g-good."

She then stood, drink in hand, "Let us go then."

Well, that was fast, "Al-alright," Jimmy stood with his crutches, grabbing his own drink, and they left. They walked down the sidewalk and started some small talk, their surrounding changed from a grey concrete ground to bright green grass, Leslie asked Jimmy questions about his life as she took more sips from her drink, and Jimmy answered as he finished off his own drink. She asked about what he liked to do for fun and he admitted that he was a comedian on weekends. She asked to hear one and so he delivered, but she reacted by giving him a blank stare. Jimmy chuckled, "Yeah that one's s-still a work in progress."

"It has potential but- what's that?"

She pointed down the path they were walking, and there was a small cart with a woman standing behind it while she was fixing something, getting closer they saw that she had a jewelry display, she turned and saw the two and smiled, "Well what a lovely couple, see anything you like?"

Jimmy ignored the first part of her comment, not feeling like explaining his life to a random woman, so he looked over the merchandise, thinking he could find something for his mother's birthday, but his gaze soon drifted over to Leslie. Her bright blue eyes staring at a hairclip with childlike fascination, this was the first expression he's seen her make since they met, which wasn't long ago but regardless, he found it adorable. He took a look closer and saw that it had a little robot head at the base, with a hint of a smile he asked the woman for the price and paid for it. She picked it up from the display and gave it to the brunet, Leslie's eyes never leaving the object. "Ready to g-go Leslie?"

She stared at the clip in his hand before nodding, the two walked a distance away from the cart to a bench, where Jimmy tossed his empty cup, when he noticed that Leslie was trying to brush her hair out of her eyes, this was a good opportunity, "Here." Jimmy stopped, causing the raven to do the same, the brunet took a step towards the woman and showed her the clip, "May I?" she gave a confused nod but watched as Jimmy moved the bangs away from her eyes and pinned them back with the clip.

Jimmy took a step back to view his work, he'd never messed with anything hair related before but he thought that he did a pretty alright job, Leslie blinked at the brunet as she rose her hand up to feel the hairclip. "Why?"

"I s-saw you staring at it and f-figured you wanted it. "

Her bright blue stared at him before telling him, "Thank you."

"Y-you're w-welcome."

The two then started to walk again, aimlessly chatting before the two stopped at an ice-cream cart for a treat. During their time together Jimmy notice that Leslie kept touching the hairclip as if she was making sure it was still there, he couldn't help but smile, she much have really liked it. However all the fun came to an end when Jimmy got a call around two, he groaned as he saw a familiar number and answered. After a brief back and forth with the caller he hung up with a sigh, he turned towards the woman "I g-gotta go, work called and they n-need me to help edit a n-new piece."

"It is alright, things come up."

"S-say, why don't we do this a-again some time.

Her corners of her lips quirked up. "I would like that. Can I call you?"

"I gave you my n-number for a reason."

"Well here is mine," she tore out a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote down some numbers before she gave it to him, "Call me later."

Jimmy's face heated up a bit, coloring his face alight red with a goofy smile, "Of course! I-I guess I'll see you later then."

"Yes."

"Bye for now," Jimmy turned and walked away, trying to suppress the huge smile that plastered his face, but as soon as he was a certain distance away in an alleyway he let out a sigh, he glanced around, and seeing that no one could see him, he seemed to vanish in a blur.

****So what do you guys think?****


	4. The Truth can Lead to a Broken Heart

Jimmy walked towards the wooden door he'd grown used to seeing, he wore a nice suit with a pale yellow tie while he held a bouquet of flowers. He gave a gentle knock and the door opened revealing Leslie wearing a bright yellow evening dress with black flats, her black hair was put up in a bun and her robot hairclip keeping her bangs away from her beautiful blue eyes. The brunet's cheeks warmed a bit at the breathtaking sight. "Jimmy, you are staring."

His blush darkened, "S-sorry, you just look so b-beautiful. Here, these are for y-you," he handed the bundle of flowers to her.

She smiled as she took them from the man, "Thank you. I will put these in water, then we can head out."

After a few minutes she returned, "Are you ready m-madam?"

She gave him a smile before taking his hand into her own, "Yes I am my gentleman," closing and locking the door behind her, they went on their way.

Later in the evening, the couple sat at a table in a fancy restaurant, chatting away, much like they normally do, Jimmy attempted a joke, much like he usually did, and he expected a blank look like he always did when he tried, but this time, she cracked a smile and actually laughed. She laughed! Well, it was more of a giggle, but still, she laughed.

Jimmy smiled, she had a lovely laugh.

They continued through the night and after dinner, they went on a stroll through a nearby park, but as the night continued on, Jimmy took notice of how Leslie became more and quieter as they continued on, but she did finally speak up.

"Jimmy...I need to tell you something..."

Said man turned and saw Leslie's eyes looked dim as she seemed hesitant, "Is something w-wrong?"

Her eyes stared at him, "I love you Jimmy, but when I tell you...I know you won't love me anymore, but I wanted to let you know before we went further."

"What do you m-mean?"

"Jimmy...I'm not who you think I am...I've kept secrets...too many, and I want to stop before it is too late..."

"Too late for w-what, Leslie what are you t-talking about?"

She took a deep breath, "I know who you are, you are Fastpass, a member of the Freedom Pals with the powers of super speed, I was created and sent by the government to try and dismantle your team."

Brown eyes widen and blinked at the raven, "W-what? What are you t-talking about?"

She looked at him with sad eyes, "Please don't play dumb. I know you are a hero...a hero the government wants to take down."

His shoulders shook, "So you know t-that, and you s-said you were c-created..."

"Yes, I am not human. They created artificial humans and they sent me to try and lure you into revealing all of your secrets..."

"S-s-so it was a lie...all of it was a lie?!"

"No...but it was at first, but not now, what I feel for you now-"

"You were using me!"

"At first, yes. But things changed, I-"

"Stop! I don't w-want to hear your lies!" Then, just like that he disappeared in a flash, just as a loud bang of thunder echoed in the sky and rain began to fall. He didn't stop running, he didn't know what happened after that moment, all he remembers was the feeling of his chest aching as his heart shattered into pieces.

****Heartbreak and angst what a fun combo. What did you all think?****


	5. Broken Regrets

Jimmy took his time as he walked down the street, the sky was filled with angry grey clouds and people all around were rushing to get home to avoid the upcoming storm. He paid no mind as people bustled past him, his heart still heavy from that day two weeks ago.

He told the Freedom Pals about what Leslie told him, no point in putting them at risk, even when she claimed that she wasn't giving the government the information, so the group of heroes was keeping a sharp eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Jimmy hadn't heard from Leslie since that night, and he kept telling himself that he was perfectly fine with that, but in actuality he missed her, but that didn't mean he could forgive her, or still wasn't hurt.

He then felt the promised rain hit, he sighed and put his hood up but that didn't mean he was going to hurry his pace along. He reached the corner of the street only to see two figures in black dash out of an alleyway, he narrowed his eyes at the two as they got into a black car and drove off. Suspicious, he made his way to the ally and took a peak. He didn't see anything at first but then he saw it, it looked like an arm under a pile of garbage bags, alarmed that there was a body, he hurried forward and threw off the bags off the person. After clearing he went to look at the body only for his blood to freeze. "L-Leslie?"

Her clothes were ragged and torn, her hair was a matted mess, and her eyes were closed, tossing his crutches on the ground he kneeled next to the black-haired woman and brushed her hair away from her face, "Leslie? L-Leslie wake up!"

Her eyes slowly opened, but looked twitchy as if they were about to close again, "J-J-Jimmy?" Her voice echoed and sounded glitchy.

"L-Leslie what happened to you?"

Her blue eyes looked into his own, but they looked dim, "I'm s-s-sorry..." Her eyes then closed again as she ceased responding. "Leslie!"

He shook her, but she didn't move, Jimmy's heart hammered in his chest as she didn't wake up again, what happened to her? Fearing for the worst, he gathered her in his arms, while able to grab his crutches, "Don't worry Leslie, I got you."

He then sped away using his superspeed. Holding the woman close to him, he sped through the streets, thankful the streets weren't that crowded thanks to the weather and made his way to the Freedom Pals base. Busting in through the doors, grabbing everyone's attention, some were and some weren't in costume, he panted, "W-where's Token?"

Mysterion stood and walked over to Jimmy, "He's in the lab, and who the hell is this?"

"Leslie."

"Wait, that girl who was using you? Why the hell did you bring her here?"

"Something's wrong, I th-think they wanted to k-kill her."

The dark hooded hero glared at the brunet but sighed. "Fine, but if anything bad happens, that's on you."

He motioned for Jimmy to follow him to the lab where they saw the cyborg hero facing a screen, "Token."

He turned towards them only for his gaze to fall on the woman in Jimmy's arms, "What-?"

"Explain later, just h-help her!"

"What am I suppose to do? I'm not a doctor."

"She's an android! You can figure something out!"

Token took a step back with wide eyes, "Alright, alright, put her on the table I'll see what I can do."

Shakily, Jimmy laid Leslie on the table and watched as Token looked her over, brushing her hair away from her face, he felt around till he stopped at the back of her neck. After pressing against it, a panel opened up, revealing robotic hardware, looking in Jimmy saw a few blinking lights, but they were slow and dim, and some of the circuits looked fried. "Wow, that's a lot of damage," Jimmy watched with concerned eyes as Token looked, "There are some ports, maybe we can get some information on what happened and how we can help, this looks like it was done from the inside out."

Jimmy bit his lip as Token hooked some cords into the ports and connected them to his computer, he glanced at the screen as the cyborg typed away. After a few minutes a file labeled, 'Collected Data' pulled up and inside was a list of dates. Token glanced over at Mysterion as he stepped closer to the computer. Risking a glance at Jimmy, Token clicked on a file from a month ago, causing it to open a video.

_"So L-258. Have you learned anything from that hero?" A man in a black suit asked._

_The room was silent for a moment before a feminine voice answered, "No I do not have any information to report."_

_The man let out an irritated sigh, "Just hurry up and find something, those heroes are causing us problems, and if we don't do anything the higher-ups will have our head!"_

_"Understood."_

_"You're dismissed."_

_The image moved, and it turned towards a door and it looked like it was going down a hallway until there was a mirror. Pausing, the image turned and there in the reflection was Leslie, she had a blank expression as she adjusted the hairclip in her hair, only to then hear a buzz. Looking down she pulled out a phone and there on the screen was a picture of Jimmy with a text message asking if she wanted to hang out, in the corner of the screen, in the reflection, a smile could be seen on her face as she texted back._

The video then stops as it seemed to have a continuing after. Jimmy glanced at Leslie's unmoving body and back at the screen, where Token had clicked on another video, it was from almost two weeks ago. It was nearly the same as before, except for the fact that Leslie's voice was quieter and the man seemed more pissed, ranting about her cover being blown, and instead of her being dismissed, the man marched out of the room leaving her alone, she sighed as the image went black.

Another video. This time from a week ago.

_The image showed a large computer screen, and in the reflection, Leslie could be seen typing away as cords could be seen attached to the back of her neck, she then pressed the enter key, and the screen flashed a bright red, and she jolted forward, letting out a glitchy yelp, as she held herself up against the keyboard. She panted, "You deserve it...you deserve it..."_

It ended, Jimmy felt his breathing become labored as he glanced at her unmoving body. Token then clicked on the last video.

_"You defective piece of shit!"_

_The image glitched and jerked as if it was slapped, "You're useless! Smith, Johnson!"_

_Two men dressed in black entered the image, "Yes sir?"_

_"Dispose of it. Don't care where just do it."_

_"But sir? Couldn't you recycle it for parts?"_

_"It's fried and defective, there is no point."_

_The two men glanced at each other, but did as they were told, the image went to black._

Jimmy's heart hammered in his chest. "Leslie..."

Token and Mysterion turned towards the brunet, "Jimmy?"

"This is my fault..."

"Jimmy, listen to me," a purple gloved hand landed on his should, he looked up and saw Mysterion staring at him, "She was sent to try and take us down using you...but from the looks of it, you are the reason she didn't go through with it, you got her to go against what she was made for. She did this to protect you."

The brunet didn't say anything as his eyes trailed over back over to Leslie, he didn't know what to say as the guilt continued to eat at him at his heart.

"Hey take a look at this!"

The two looked over at Token who still typed on the computer, on the screen was a page full of information, "What is it?" Mysterion asked as he walked back over to the cyborg.

"I found a file that goes into detail of what the government planned," he turned towards Jimmy who still hadn't moved from his spot, "She must have left it for you if you found her to stop them."

"So this is the government's plans?"

"Looks like it."

"What if it's a trap?"

Token shook his head, "Doubt it, these files aren't like the others, and we need to hurry, from the looks of it they'll try a Plan B soon."

Mysterion sighed, "Fine, I'll inform the others and Doctor Timothy, we need to stop them as soon as we can."

Token nodded and Mysterion turned and dashed out of the door, but Token looked over and saw Jimmy, unmoving as he stood next to the android. He sighed as he pressed a few keys on the computer and walked over to the brunet. "You can stay Jimmy, I'll run an analyst while we're gone, knowing how Mysterion and Doc are we'll leave soon, and I'll see what I can do for her."

Jimmy could only nod. "You should sit down, I know this is a lot."

Token grabbed a chair for the brunet, who collapsed in it immediately. Then a voice echoed in their heads, 'Freedom Pals, Report to the Front now.'

The cyborg sighed as he watched the speedster hero sit defeated in his seat, "We'll be back Jimmy, and we'll save her, I promise."

"Th-thanks To-token..."

Said man left the room, leaving Jimmy alone in the lab with Leslie. He didn't feel the rise of tears in his eyes or them slipping down his face, as he put his hand on top of hers and whispered, "I'm s-sorry Leslie."

****What are you're alls thoughts on this new development? The next chapter is the last.****


	6. Starting Over

****Last Chapter.****

Jimmy sat by Leslie for hours, he laid his head over on the table hours ago, only to be jolted when he felt a hand land on his shoulder, jerking his head he saw Mysterion looking over him with exhausted blue eyes, they must have just come back. "You holding up?"

The brunet shrugged as his eyes traveled back to the android woman. He heard the hero behind him sigh and a pair of footsteps walk into the room, walking past them and straight to the computer, glancing up he saw Token, once again out of his hero clothes, typing away, windows opening and filling the screen. Jimmy watched, anxiety starting to eat at him again on top of his exhaustion as Token typed away, hopefully finding a solution to helping Leslie, and hopefully, it wasn't too late. After a few minutes, he heard the cyborg sigh, fear gripped the brunet's heart as he sat up straight.

"Jimmy, I'm sorry."

His blood turned cold as he felt his heart stopped.

"Whatever she did to herself...it corrupted, her files, software, everything. Whoever she was...she's not coming back."

"T-there has to something y-you can do!"

Token solemnly shook his head, "I'm sorry, even if I could undo this damage, there isn't much that could be salvaged."

"No..." he slumped back in his seat, "I did this..."

He stared at the ground but heard Mysterion sigh, "Is there anything you can do?"

The cyborg sighed as he turned to face them, "All I can do is replace the damaged software and hardware, but in doing so everything will have to wiped out, including her memory."

Jimmy stayed quiet as he looked over at the woman he loved, she didn't deserve what happened to her, she deserved a fresh start, even if it meant forgetting about the relationship they built and the same one he destroyed. He knew it would hurt but he loved her, even during their time apart she never left his mind, and he knew that this would be better, if they started from scratch, even if this time, she didn't love him.

"Do it..."

The two blinked at him, "You sure? Maybe there's-"

His gaze met their line of sight, "No...she d-deserves a clean slate, and as T-Token said, there's t-too much damage..." He sighed as he griped his pant legs, "Besides it'll be for the best, with her no longer as a pawn and being able to make her own choices without an outside source telling her what to do... "

Token and Mysterion's eyes met, "Okay."

A few days later, Jimmy was called to the base. He arrived at a sluggish speed and dark circles under his eyes, as he looked at if he hadn't slept in days. He stumbled through most of the building as he arrived at the lab, already guessing why he was called, as Doctor Timmothy told him to take some time off. He leaned on his crutches as he rested his head on the door sill, inside he could see Token in front of something. "Here..."

Token turned and faced the exhausted brunet, "Are you ready?"

"So you're d-done?"

"Wouldn't have called you in if I wasn't. "

He motioned for Jimmy to follow him and lead him over to a table where Leslie's body now sat up, but her hair was still a mess and her clothes weren't much better, "Basically good as new, though I will admit it was strange working on her, never knew they could make them so advanced."

"So she'll be f-fine?"

"Yeah, and once we reboot her, she'll never have to worry about the government trying to get her back on top of it after they decided to back off."

"...Good."

So you ready?"

Jimmy nodded.

Token walked behind the android and pressed a button on the back of her neck before closing the covering, where he took a step back. Jimmy watched with unflinching eyes as Leslie's body straightened and her eyes opened, revealing her bright blue eyes. After a moment her eyes shifted to look around the room before landing on the man in front of her. She tilted her head to the side a bit before asking, "May I ask, who I am? What is my purpose?"

The tired man gave her a weak smile, "You're Leslie and you can do whatever you want."

She blinked at him, "And what do I want?"

Jimmy gave a tired snicker, "Don't worry, I'll help you figure it out."

****End. What did you guys think? I know this was short and is not one of my best works, but I do hope that you enjoyed it, and hope you stick around for future works.****


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